Thursday, February 25, 2016

Smiling Snowmen and Argentina Trip Photos: Part One

Here we are nearing the end of February! Doesn't it seem like 2016 just started?I promised I'd have photos of my Argentina trip posted by the end of February and I hate to break a promise so, if you are interested, they're further down. I took more than 500 photos on our trip (don't worry, I'm not going to show you all of them!), so I've had to divide them up into three parts. This post contains the photos from the various neighborhoods of Buenos Aires. Part Two will contain the downtown area of Buenos Aires and our day trip to Uruguay (you didn't know I traveled there, too, did you?!). And in Part Three, I will share my Patagonia photos--by far, my favorite part of our South American adventure!

I know many of you only stop in to see anything stitching related so I'll fill you in on that part of my life to begin with. First of all, I want to thank you for your wonderful comments on my Flower Shop finish in my previous post. I worried about changing the flower shop sign so much, but I think you all feel that it was well worth the effort--especially since I plan on displaying The Flower Shop and The Bakery together.

My first two Christmas ornaments are finished for this year and Mr. January is this sweet Homespun Elegance design called "Sampler Snowman." Before I began the stitching, I was very uncertain about the suggested thread for the alphabet, but since I had some of the Caron "Fiesta" thread in my stash, I gave it a try. And just look how it turned out--what a fun looking finish! Yes, all those colors for the alphabet are on just one skein of thread--can you believe it? I sort of picked and chose what portions to use and tried to scatter the colors so there weren't clumps of just orange letters or just blue or brown. I'm really pleased with the final look.

I'm not sure what fabric it is stitched on--just a piece of mystery linen (32 ct.) from my stash. I kept the finish very simple because of the busyness of the design. After auditioning fabric after fabric, I finally hit upon this blue and gold star strewn piece to use for the backing. And after applying a simple gold cording, I had my January finish! What do you think?

Homespun Elegance "Sampler Snowman" finish

For my February ornament, I chose a Notforgotten Farm design called "Parson Brown." Just look at that cute snowman--don't you love him? So pudgy and huggable looking... To make this ornament-sized, I stitched it "over one" on 28 ct. vintage Country Mocha linen and omitted the bottom of the chart that said, "Parson Brown, 1847." Most of the colors were changed so they would show up on this particular linen. I actually only used the suggested colors for the black stitches and the color of the hat.

To finish this one up, I found a dotted fabric in a perfect shade of rust to match the snowman's hat and added a simple gold ric-rac around the entire ornament. Five rusty bells hanging from the bottom of the ornament completed the finish which is displayed by my little snowman helper. So, two ornaments down--ten to go!

Notforgotten Farm's "Parson Brown" finish

Here is a closer look so you can see the finish a bit better:

Hmmm... two snowmen as monthly ornaments so far. Are you sensing a theme? Yep--I've decided I'll be doing a snowman a month this year. I noticed I had so, so many of the chubby white guys just begging me to stitch them, so I plan to stitch 12 of them throughout the year. Which one will be next? Stay tuned...

I recently received a darling stitched Valentine surprise from my friend, Gabi (no blog), in Germany. Isn't this beautiful? Gabi and I share a love of Prairie Schooler designs so she chose this pretty design from the PS "From the Heart" chart. It was one I had never stitched so I was very happy to receive it and promptly added it to my bowl of February pillows. Thank you so very much, Gabi--your finish is lovely and you are so sweet to think of me!

Valentine's Day gift from Gabi

And speaking of Valentine's Day gifts... look at this cheerful bouquet of yellow roses my husband brought home for me. They certainly brightened up my kitchen during this gray month of February...

I love yellow roses more than any other color--after 38 years of marriage, my husband knows me well!

So, that ends the stitching portion of this post. Feel free to skip to the end of my travel photos--I really won't be offended :) But, if you, like me know absolutely nothing about Argentina, you may find these just a bit interesting and learn something new about South America...

"Argentina??!! Why??!!" That was my first reaction when my youngest son told us he would be studying abroad for a semester in the Argentinian capital of Buenos Aires. And when my husband suggested going to visit him there, I had very mixed feelings. Argentina had never been on my "must visit" list like New Zealand and Peru (Machu Pichu) are! For one thing, it was so, so far away and, secondly, I was suffering with a severe bone bruise on the top of my left foot and honestly couldn't imagine doing all the walking. But, that was in September, two months before we would actually depart, so we took a leap of faith and booked our plane and hotel reservations. Thankfully, my foot was pretty much healed by the time we left for South America in late November.

Following a two hour plane ride from Pittsburgh to Atlanta and an exhausting ten hour overnight flight from Atlanta to Buenos Aires, we landed, and after going through customs and collecting our luggage, we spotted our youngest son waiting for us. Oh, what a wonderful sight--he was just grinning from ear to ear, as were we when we hugged him. And just look at what he brought with him to greet us--alfajores! Argentinians love their sweets and these little cookies filled with dulce de leche are a staple there. So delicate and melt-in-your mouth tasty! The secret ingredient in the cookie part? Lots and lots of corn starch--who would have thought?

Alfajores--such a sweet treat!

After traveling to our apartment (more about that later) and unpacking, we headed off (somewhat groggily) to the San Telmo neighborhood of Buenos Aires for the famous Sunday flea market which is held each week. This is the oldest part of the city and is now famous for its artists and galleries.

San Telmo flea market

Don't you love the greenery on the balconies?

The flea market was filled with booth after booth of finely crafted items. Some of my favorites were:

Fancy fedoras

Brilliant bottles

Prismatic pencils

Lovely lacework

Tiny tot-sized tennies

And look!! We even spotted "Santa" doing some flea market shopping in preparation for his December visits! Do you think that is Mrs. Claus in front of him?

Was Santa picking up some stocking stuffers?

That evening, after a quick nap, we headed off for another of the many Buenos Aires neighborhoods: Puerto Madero. If I had to describe this area, the word I would use would be "trendy." Lots of loft living, interesting sculptures, a fabulous bridge... This is the neighborhood my son said he would choose to live in if he resided in Buenos Aires full time. A significant portion of it lies on the riverbanks of the Río de la Plata (River of Silver).

One of the highlights of Puerto Madero is the beautiful Puente de la Mujer (Women's Bridge) designed by Spanish architect, Santiago Calatrava.

Puerto Madero riverfront

It is a rotating footbridge in which the middle section rotates from the white concrete pylon. This allows ships to pass through as they navigate the river.

Puente de la Mujer

Giant cranes like this one line the riverfront of Puerto Madero; a kind of industrial art.

Massive cranes were once used to unload cargo from ships

I wish we could have seen this neighborhood in the daytime, but our time
was limited and Buenos Aires is the second largest metropolitan area in
all of South America!

Ships docked in the river are used for parties and as museums

Over the next few days we visited many parts of Buenos Aires. One of the most colorful neighborhoods is La Boca--home of the famous soccer team, the Boca Juniors. The touristy area is bright and noisy, but the surrounding area is poorer and not the safest place to visit. When our tour guide was advising us not to go there at night, I noticed my youngest son looking a bit sheepish--yes, he had already been there at night ("Don't worry, mom--I was with friends!"). Just one of the reasons why I worry about him!

Argentina is so proud of its Boca Juniors soccer team

Probably the most colorful street I've ever seen!

Notice the characters hanging out on the balconies

That guy looks a bit disgusted with all of the tourists!

Look! It's the "Pope" giving a blessing!

We had hoped to see some of the famous Buenos Aires tango dancers on the streets, but had to settle for this painted mural...

Tango is huge in Argentina!

The Boca neighborhood is a painter's dream!

Our apartment for three days was located in the beautiful Recoletaneighborhood. This is a lovely residential, more affluent area filled with streets that look like they could be in a Paris neighborhood. Such pretty architecture... We rented our apartment through airbnb and had an excellent experience. The place we rented had three bedrooms, a living room, dining room, kitchen, laundry, and two baths--all for $270 per night. It was much cheaper than paying for hotel rooms for all of us and we were able to spread out and truly relax--we even did our laundry before we headed down to Patagonia!

The most famous attraction in Recoleta is the La Recoleta Cemetery. Now, I have always loved cemeteries and this one was a real treat. I wish we could have spent a longer time there just exploring each little street of this "city of the dead." Set on 14 acres of land with over 4500 above ground vaults, it would take days and days to truly explore the whole thing...

200+ year old ficus tree "El Gran Gomero" at the Recoleta Cemetery entrance

It is so big that wooden beams and little statues help support the limbs!

Entrance to Recoleta Cemetery: Requiescant In Pace

A miniature city of the dead

Some vaults were in excellent shape

Others had fallen into disrepair

So many intricately carved sculptures

This mother and child particularly touched my heart

The most famous resident of La Recoleta Cemetery: Eva Perón

Whew! This post took me over five hours to put together--am I crazy? I hope some of you are still with me--thanks for hanging in there! I'll be back in March for Part Two: Uruguay and the city center of Buenos Aires. Hopefully, I'll have some new stitching to show you, too! I've been working a lot of hours and my sister and brother-in-law will be visiting for three days this weekend so I won't be getting much stitching time--but I can always hope! Until then, take care, my friends, and enjoy what's left of February. Thank you, as always, for your supportive comments and emails--they mean so very much to me! Bye for now...

82 comments:

I love your Snowmen Carol,so beautifully finished.I especially like your first snowman,the alphabet works so well with the thread colours.

Wow! What an adventure you had,so many wonderful photos and interesting facts.I am looking forward to part two already.The Jacaranda trees were beautiful and the lace gorgeous.Those Alfajores look delicious .It must have been difficult to choose the photos for your post out of over 500!! I enjoyed every single one,thank you.

Our younger son and his girlfriend use airbnb and have had great experiences,your appartment sounded luxurious.What an experience and so lovely to see your son there,what an amazing experience for him.

Your snowmen are too, too cute! What a great idea to have a new "crop" of snowmen for your tree!!!I love the Argentina photos! It looks like a magnificent place! Your son will have precious memories from being there. Our son visited Peru while in college. A group took a trip there and he was fortunate to see Machu Picchu. South America is an area I know very little about, but find very interesting. I know you must have had a wonderful time!Thanks for sharing the lovely photos!

Carol, I really enjoyed the pictures from your trip and look forward to the next group. Thanks so much for spending the time it takes. I'm sure I will never personally visit that part of the world so it was fun to see the photos. Your snowman ornaments are wonderful! Great to have a theme!

Did you take stitching with you? You probably didn't have enough any time!I would love to revisit Buenos Aires. Your lovely photos brought our 2008 trip back so clearly. If I were to stay in BA again I would do as you did and stay in the Recoleta neighborhood.Lovely post!

Love your new snowmen. Guess you will have to stock up on darker shades of linen if you plan to do one every month! Wow! You really saw a lot of cool things on that trip. Well worth the the time and effort!

Wow, Carol, what a great post! Your finishes look great as always; makes me want to tackle my unfinished finishes. I see what you mean about the cemetery being like the one in New Orleans, it's beautiful! I have to say that your pictures of Buenos Aires kind of blew my preconceived notions of what a South American city looks like. Parts of it do look European! Thanks Carol. You take great pictures! Can't wait to see your other pictures.

This was such a fun post! I loved seeing all your pics from Buenos Aires! If you want to know more about tango, I have a great source of info -- my DD. lol! She could tell you all about the origin of tango down in Argentina and all that stuff. Yes, she would love to have done what your son did! Thanks for sharing your pics -- so much fun to see. And a snowman theme for your ornaments this year, huh? What fun!

I loved seeing your snowmen, but I have to say I really enjoyed your travel pics! Like you, I would never think to travel there, but it looks wonderful. Thanks for sharing and I'm looking forward to the next chapter!

Oh, my! My first thought was "oh, no, she's probably already stitched my favorite ornament of the year!", but then you told us that snowmen will be built all year so now I'm sure I'll have a much harder time choosing. This two are a great start, though!

Your trip photos are gorgeous. Like so many others commenting, l had no idea how beautiful that area is. Thank you for sharing; I'll definitely be looking for next month's travelogue.

I love your two snowmen finishes, and the darling heart that you received from your friend. The photos of Buenos Aires are fabulous! The cemetery photos remind me of the above-ground vaults in New Orleans. Enjoy your visit with your sister!

Thank you for sharing your tour in Argentina. I read and read again your post and look forward to reading the second episode of your trip. Travelling is the best way to live! And now also Buenos Aires is on my wish list!Compliments for your ornaments, they are very cute and well done.

Lovely stitching as always.Thank you for bringing Argentina on the "to visit" list.Like you, we have never thought of visiting the country before.Lovely pics. My favourite are the colorful houses with characters hanging out.

Lovely ornaments, Carol!! And the gift you received is also sweet:) Thank you for taking us around Argentina!! Can't wait to see the penguin pics :)Like you, I decided to write 4 set of posts for my vacation but I could manage only two sets. These posts definitely take long time. In fact, I feel the amount of time taken to plan a holiday, taking and sorting pictures and then posting is equivalent to or more than the time actually spent on vacation:)

What a wonderful update! Both your snowman stitching are wonderful, and you're finished them so beautifully. You chose a beautiful finishing fabrics they fit well together your stitching. You also received lovely heart gift from friend.

You have really been a marvelous and interesting trip to South America. You've taken some great photos, thank you for sharing them and I look forward to the next section.

What lovely ornaments you created again. And I love your new theme for this year. I'm also fond of stitching snowmen, I don't know what it is that attracts me towards stitching them as I don't like snow. At all, lol. I love the HE one with all the colourful letters that surround him. You were doing a great job choosing the different colours for them.

So wonderful to read about your Argentinian adventure. And what an experience to visit all the different neighbourhoods in Buenos Aires. This flea market offers fascinating things, and these characters hanging out on the balconies are so interesting to look at. My husband would have visited the cemetery as well, he loves old cemeteries, the older the better :) Friend of ours visited Buenos Aires some years ago, they are passionate tango dancers and went to the milongas (I don't know if there is an English word for this) each night while they were there. This must be a very special experience. I'm looking forward to reading about the next part of your travel.

I love it that you have chosen snowmen for your ornament theme this year, I have always had a thing about snowmen and just adore anything with snowmen on (especially fat cuddly ones). Looking forward to seeing the range of snowmen that you come up with for the rest of the months this year.

I enjoyed viewing your photos of Argentina, it certainly looks a fascinating and diverse country to visit, looking forward to the next part of your South American adventures. xx

Lovely stitching again Carol I love the snowmen and may stitch more this year . Love the yellow roses from DH .Wonderful photos thanks for sharing , I loved the tree , and how colourful the streets are there .So happy you had a fab time .

I love this post, Carol! I'm a big fan of snowmen ;) and I don't remember if I told you that I've been living in Barcelona for 15 years, but I'm Peruvian! (If you need some information or advice about the country... I'm your person :) and your Argentinean experience was great! I really enjoyed your photos and comments. Happy weekend! Giovi

Hi Carol,I love both of those snowmen! The finishes are just perfect (what am I saying - of course they are! :) )What a wonderful theme for your ornaments this year. I will look forward to seeing which ones you stitch. Thanks so much for sharing pictures of your trip. What a fabulous trip and opportunity.I so look forward to your posts and thank you for the time and energy you spend on them.hugs,Wanda

I love your choice of floss for the snowman piece. Adorable.What an adventure. I did not mind all the pictures at all. I loved it. So very interesting. Why was the mother and child statue behind glass with a drain or vent?Have an excellent weekend with your sister.

What really cute ornaments for 2016! A Year of Snowmen... I could probably do that too! I don't 'need' to buy any more charts to stitch! What wonderful pictures of Buenos Aires--the colors, the architectural delights, the huge Ficus tree and the surrounding supports, the balconies and their characters, the blooming Jacaranda which immediately set my mind to singing the song about them by Al Jarreau, and that cemetery! What a great trip it must have been! Wow! Thanks for sharing your trip with us! It has been a delight! Look forward to more! Hugs!

Perfect finishes as always Carol! There's just something about snowmen that makes you smile every time.What lovely photos of your trip - it must have been difficult to choose your favourites. I look forward to the next installment. Until then, Happy Days!Jenn

Hello Carol - what an amazing post! I'm not surprised it took so long to put together! I love the snowmen - the Fiesta threads look really effective. As for the photos of your trip - how amazing they are! It's so fascinating to see things in far-away countries - and the Cemetary you visited looks very interesting - I like to visit them, too. Such beautiful roses from your husband as well!It's been lovely to read all about your adventures!Take care and have a lovely weekend!Lynda.

Needless to say, I love your ornaments. The fact that you made Parson Brown into a small ornament is impressive. I have always loved your your ornament from PS The Night Before Christmas Sampler where you used the bottom motif. For some reason, I didn't catch that part and looked everywhere trying to find that graph. Recently, I was going through my graphs and there it was! I had it all along. Who knew?! I just stitched this ornament and want to stitch HE I will honour Christmas. Looking forward to you snowmen this year. Your pictures were great.

Dear Carol , what a beautiful post . All the fantastic pictures of your trip , so impressive. Thank you for these wonderful photos and your report. It has very entertain me . Total sweet I'll find your two snowmen , have you been well prepared for the winter especially if you now every month embroider a . The Valentine's gift from your friend is delightful.Howdy very fondYour Sandra

Carol, your stitching is beautiful!I know how sad it is for a son who goes to study very far. Our one son two years of study in China, the second son was a year at the University of Kansas in the US. From Europe it's too far away and we could not afford to go to visit them. It was sad.You're lucky mama, you could visit a son!Thank you for the beautiful photos, I really like flowering jacaranda trees.Our spouses us for years know very well :-)

As usual your finishing is just wonderful and well thought out to suit the design - a joy to behold. You will have a wonderful collection of gorgeous snowmen by Christmas.

I loved all the photos of your trip. Sometimes the unexpected can give us the greatest enjoyment. The idea of visiting your son during his stay in Argentina certainly has given you memories you would never have had without his being there. We, as parents, chose to give our kids special memories and now your son has returned the favour.

What a wonder vibrant city and so exciting to visit. I can certainly see why you could have spent many days in the cemetery. I agree with you that they are very interesting and special places. The rows of vaults look amazing.

What an interesting post with beautiful photographs! Buenos Aires looks like a beautiful city. Those characters in the balconies are amazing! I wonder who makes them, and whether people live in the buildings behind them?Lovely ornaments as always. I really love the Parson Brown one, and your gift from Gabi is just beautiful.

It was so worth the 5 hours it took to put this post together Carol. What an amazing trip you had. Stunning pictures! You made me want to put Argentina on my bucket list. The cemetery picture of the mother and child makes me want to cry. Makes me wonder, are they buried there together? Or are they there watching over someone that they have lost? It definitely touches the heart. Your stitching as always is perfect. Is this the year of the snowman?

Love the snowmen even though I am looking forward to spring!! I absolutely loved reading about your trip Adam seeing the photos ~ the colors, the architecture, the culture, all amazing!! I would have spent hours at the market and the cemetery! Looking forward to seeing and hearing more!

A year of snowmen! How Fun! I love the rusty jingle bells on the second one. Looking forward to see what else you find to stitch! My, what a wonderful trip! I'm not a traveler, so I have to visit others parts of the world through others! You've given me a beautiful view of Argentina!

Such cute snowmen! Very pretty valentine's your received. Glad you had a great time on your trip. Thanks for sharing your pics. I'll have to go back and read your previous post. This feed reader misses posts all the time. GRR

Hi Carol - what a great post you have shared with us! I loved seeing all of the pictures and reading about the places you were lucky enough to visit - just wonderful! (I'd be happy to look at all 500+ of your photos LOL!). What a great experience for you, your husband and your son to share. I look forward to the next installments of "Carol's Big Adventure"!! ��

As for your two snowmen ornaments - adorable! You always turn your beautiful stitching into some truly special. These two snowmen are so cute. I'm intrigued with the "Fiesta" thread from Caron - I'll have to check that out.

Thanks so much for sharing a great post with us (5 hours is a long time and a lot of effort to put into this, but very much appreciated!)

As always I love your work. The snowmen are delightful, the patterns, your stitching one over one and, of course, the finishing!Thanks for sharing those wonderful photos. What a trip of a lifetime! Can't wait to see the rest of them.

Your ornaments are adorable. I like how the variegated thread used for the alphabet turned out and the snowman pops. Love seeing the photos from your trip too. Glad your AirBnB experience was a good one.

What a great trip, so glad you had a good experience with Airbnb, really want to try it. Gorgeous stitching, I love the Notforgotten Farm one, must look for it. Yellow roses are special, I carried them, heavens above, forty five years ago in June!

What a very wonderful post Carol even if it did take hours. Loved seeing your photos, many really interesting and loved the very ancient ficus tree - amazing.Pretty stitching too. I see lots of lovely snowmen ornaments and we are spoilt for choice.

Thank you for all of your photos. I would never get to see these glorious places if it wasn't for people like you taking great photos of their holidays. I couldn't get through it all in one sitting. :) I can't wait for the next part. :)

Carol what an interesting post. After reading it, I think that Argentina has jumped on to my list of places I'd like to see someday. How great that you had your son to guide and direct you while you were there. I appreciate all the time it took to put together this post - fascinating! And, as always, wonderful stitching too!

You've captured such great pictures from your adventures Carol, thank you for taking the time to share them.Such delights on the market and the cemetery does look so serene.The brightly coloured abodes did make me smile, did you do the tango yourself in a bar???Snowmen are delightful, Parson Brown looks good enough to cuddle up to.xxx

Your snowman finishes are simply adorable and lovely. That is sweet gift from Gabi. Such a sweet welcome gift from your son, the cookie look delish in the photo too. What a fascinating trip; love the photo of Santa, HOHO and the cemetery is so enchanting, what an amazing travel post, I enjoyed every photos and the captioned you've added. Looking forward to Part 2.Have a good weekend.

What pretty cushions your first two this year. Detailing your husband know that you like and you regale yellow roses. As I like to see pictures of places you do not know in person, but they tell me they are beautiful, my companion is Argentina and we enjoyed walking around them beautiful places she knows personally and I'd like to visit. Looking forward photos of Patagonia.A big kiss.

Such gorgeous little pillows Carol. I especially love how the one with the Caron alphabet turned out. You always seem to find the perfect finishing fabrics and trims for your ornaments.Loved the pictures of your trip and look forward to part two.Happy weekend,Margaret

Hello, Argentina! Wow, that was incredible - thank you so much for sharing! I'd never thought about visiting South America, but your post has me wondering if I dismissed it too quickly. And of course your stitching is always an utter delight. I especially love the Parson Brown piece - the finishing with those little bells (or balls) is spot-on!

I love your little snowman finishes! They are so cute! And the yellow roses from your DH are so pretty! It looks like you really enjoyed Argentina. The arts and crafts from the market are lovely and you all stayed in such a nice building. Can't wait to see more photos.

Welcome!

Welcome ~ I'm so glad you've dropped in for a visit! I love getting to know fellow cross stitchers from around the world, discovering new stitching blogs, and being inspired by your work. I hope you enjoy your visit today and thanks for taking the time to say "hello!"Carol